The Lighter Side of Window Treatments

One thing that deters home intruders from breaking into a home is seeing signs that someone is at home. Have you ever seen the movie “Home Alone”? The Wet Bandits avoided breaking into the McCallister home because of cardboard cutouts for Pete’s sake! Well, we’re excited to launch our new line of Honeycomb Security Shades. As someone approaches your window the shades will light up just as if you turned on the light in that room.

How they work

Our engineers used the latest in LED and motion sensor technology to provide the securest solution for homeowners. We have fitted certain styles in our honeycomb line with LEDs between the cells to light up as someone approaches your windows. The lights are turned on when a motion sensor is tripped and are set to a timer to stay on for up to 25 minutes at a time. The shade must be fully drawn in order for the sensors to work properly.

Future of Security Shades

As we move forward in the continual development of the product we hope to iterate on the design to make them the most functional they can be. With facial recognition technology advancing and becoming more affordable we hope to incorporate this into the design. Using this added technology you would then be able to set up trusted faces so that not everyone sets off the sensor.

In addition, we are also looking into programmable shadow patterns to give the appearance that someone is in the room, but currently this technology is still in the alpha stage of development.

So whether you’re beefing up the security around your perimeter or you’re trying to stop Kevin from seriously maiming home intruders with booby traps think of 3 Day Blinds Honeycomb Security Shades!

St. Patrick’s Day is a fun-filled holiday. And while it will come as no surprise that green is the “color of the day” for St. Patty’s Day, but there are also several ways to infuse green into your home. From energy efficient, eco-friendly window coverings to other simple DIY ideas, “going green” has never been more popular or easy! Here’s a short list of our “Top 5” ways to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day by not only wearing green, but also showing it inside your home.

Start with Eco-Friendly Blinds and Shades

Eco-Friendly Roman Shades

With greater emphasis on being eco-friendly, selecting the right window treatments can make a real difference. Choosing window treatments which are the least harmful to the environment is easier than ever, and 3 Day Blinds can help you! Our eco-friendly window coverings use fabrics with GreenGuard, Confidence in Textiles, or GreenAssured certification, and meet some of the world’s most rigorous and comprehensive standards for low emissions of VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Some of our favorites here include select Roller Shades, Roman Shades, Pleated Shades, and Vertical Blinds.

Saving Water at Home

There are so many things we can do to reduce our water consumption – and save cash as well! Here are some brief and simple tips most of us can apply:

Shorter showers with less pressure

Install a water saving shower head – under $10

Ensuring taps, water pipes and hose connections don’t drip

Checking toilets for leaks. Use a few drops of food coloring in the cistern, wait for a while and check the bowl for signs of color – be sure to flush afterwards to prevent staining.

Using low water car washes

Turning off the tap while brushing your teeth and shaving

These are just some of the many ways we can help preserve one of our planet’s most precious natural resources, and they are easy to do too!

Planting a Home Vegetable Garden

Save money by planting your own vegetable garden

Starting a vegetable garden at home is an easy way to save money — that $2 tomato plant can easily provide you with 10 pounds of fruit over the course of a season, it’s also extremely eco-friendly.

In addition to providing you and your family with delicious, sun-warmed vegetables fresh from the garden, you’re also introducing natural, organic nutrients back into the earth’s soil. Plus, growing vegetables can be fun. It’s a great way to spend time with children or have a place to get away and spend time outdoors in the sun.

If you plan it right, you can enjoy a beautiful garden full of the fruits of your labor — without having to spend hours and hours tending it. Planting a garden that includes vegetables and flowers means you’ve combined natural companions, and that can turn a potential eyesore into an attractive landscape feature.

Air Conditioner Tips that Keep You Cool While Saving Energy

Hot weather is just around the “calendar corner”, and you are likely to use your air conditioner at least a few times soon (if not more). But have you spent the time to ensure that it’s running as it should? And have you considered an overall cooling strategy that could help you run your air conditioner less, save money, and stay cool and comfortable? If you answered no to both of those questions, the tips below can help you get on track for an efficient cooling season. These tips can help keep your air conditioner running efficiently and prolong the life of the unit:

Replace filters every one to two months during the cooling season. You can lower energy use by 5%-15% by replacing a dirty filter with a clean one

Check the evaporator coil every year and clean it as needed

Clean the area around outdoor condenser coils by removing debris and trimming foliage so there are at least two feet around the condenser for airflow.

These and other simple adjustments can make a big difference in efficient cooling of your home, while also lowering your energy bills and reducing your carbon footprint at the same time.

Think “Green” with your Pillows

Buckwheat Hulls used as filling for pillows for an eco-friendly pillow

Another item that we probably don’t give much thought to environment-wise is the pillow. Most of us will sleep our way through dozens of pillows over our lifetimes – and with countless others doing the same, it’s worth giving some consideration. A widely-used pillow filling is polyester fiber. Other common synthetic pillow fillings include memory foam which is made from polyurethane with additional chemicals. Both of these substances take a very long time to break down in the environment.

In looking for “greener” alternatives for pillows, here are some excellent choices that are not only comfy for sleeping, but that you can also be proud of when it comes to being kind to our planet.

There you have it! Following these “green-friendly” tips will help keep you stay in the St. Patty’s Day spirit all year long, save you money on lower energy and food bills, and help our earth’s environment.

As you’re all well aware, 3 Day Blinds loves window treatments. Nothing brings us more excitement in the office than when we are about to launch a new line of product. While we’re not fully ready to unveil our new line of Cellular/Honeycomb Shades just yet, we want to give you a glimpse behind the curtain, pun very much intended.

When we take photos at our studio we bring in a staging company who supplies the furniture for the photo shoots. For this particular shoot we used L3 Truc Interiors and we were able to get some great shots and are eager to unveil the new product line.

With this many options it’s hard to choose!

The above photo is just some of the furniture that L3 Truc provided. Can you imagine our excitement? It was like having a mobile personal stylist come to our offices and say “What do you think of x, y, or z for this shot?” It was quite the experience.

Once we had the furniture in the office it was time to get the ball rolling. That meant we had to get to work transforming our in-office photo studio into a home that we could be proud of!

Daniel of L3 Truc Interiors laying the flooring for the photo shoot.

Daniel Raczkowski, pictured above, was with us for the photo shoot putting the rooms together. As we worked on transforming the room, it was inspiring and amazing to see the transformation that was taking place. Our office was becoming a home right before our eyes.

Our goal with this photo shoot was not only to take photos of our new Cellular/Honeycomb Shades, but we also wanted to open the door and let you into our world. One of the most fun moments of the day was deciding which decorative hardware we wanted to use with our drapery panels. Much like we would with anyone who scheduled their free in-home design consultations we had some options.

Melissa and Chris decide which decorative hardware to use.

Chris, our installer, and Melissa, from merchandising, had some decisions to make. They were going back and forth on which of our decorative hardware to use. It can be so hard when you love all of the options! We finally narrowed it down to the final two and were torn between a 1″ wrought iron rod in pewter (above) or a 1″ adjustable rod rung in brushed nickle (below).

Installer Chris hanging the drapery panels.

After much debate, none of which was heated, we chose the adjustable rod as it really tied the room together (sometimes, it’s the little things).

We are so excited to see what you think of our new Cellular/Honeycomb shades and can’t wait for them to launch. Stay tuned for the announcement via our social media channels and in the meantime you can schedule your free in-home consultation to get ready, we promise, you’ll love the treatment!

It’s Monday, the week is just starting and it’s time to help reduce some of that stress. Those six extra weeks of winter that the groundhog predicted a few weeks ago don’t look like they are going to give up, but guess what?

It’s National Margarita Day, so sit back, relax and let 3 Day Blinds help you by providing these recipes while you dream of your soon to be summer.

Third, our Customer Care team provides end to end world class service to customers around the nation from our contact center in Irvine CA. Our Customer Care team is made up of caring top notch specialists trained to provide a superior client experience.

Here at 3 Day Blinds not only do we love providing excellent customer service and great window treatments we also love giving to excellent causes. Recently, we had an opportunity to donate $40,000 worth of product to Habitat for Humanity and more specifically the Habitat for Humanity ReStore program.

For those who might not be familiar with the ReStore program, they are nonprofit home improvement stores and donation centers that sell new and gently used furniture, appliances, home accessories, building materials and more to the public at a fraction of the retail price. Proceeds are used to build homes, community, and hope locally and around the world.

3 Day Blinds tries to work with non-profit organizations and community partners when we are able. We are so excited to be able to join in such a great cause and something that we feel resonated with us, because we are in the business of helping people turn their house into a home with our custom window treatments, that warm up any space. We are fortunate enough to be able to support the communities that have helped build our business over the last 37 years.

3 Day Blinds continually looks for opportunities to give to excellent organizations like Habitat for Humanity and we seek out those organizations whose passion matches our own. We look for partners who share our vision of being One Team and in doing so hope that we can have a lasting effect.3 Day Blinds works hard to achieve this vision both inside and outside of the business.

If you have designs on upgrading your home interior in the coming year, in the past you could count on having fun with Pantone’s Color of the Year. However, this year the color experts from Pantone, long considered the global authority on color research, have made things especially interesting by naming not one, but two colors for their annual honor. This means DIY and even professional designers will now have to choose between…drum roll please…Rose Quartz and Serenity, if they want to stay current with what’s trending in color.

With Serenity, a kind of baby blue, and Rose Quartz, a dusty pink, Pantone has chosen colors it feels best represent “a symbolic color selection; a color snapshot of what we see taking place in our culture that serves as an expression of a mood and an attitude.” So now you have to ask yourself, “Which color do I use to “re-boot” my home?” Before anyone stresses about this color challenge, just know that these two colors are so beautiful, you really can’t go wrong with either one. Just imagine Rose Quartz, a persuasive yet gentle tone that conveys compassion and a sense of composure, adorning your master bedroom with accent pillows and a striking floral arrangement. Or, try recovering that sofa or love seat with a polished cotton of Rose Quartz, providing a key design element that invites other décor items to play along with.

If you’re attracted to the cooler, tranquil blues, your decision is easy, because Serenity fits the bill. It’s weightless and airy, like the expanse of the blue sky, and captures feelings of respite and relaxation. To amplify a mood with either of these two colors, you should consider upgrading your window coverings. Since windows offer such a natural canvas for expressing color, you can add other interior design elements that harmonize with either Rose Quartz or Serenity. Regardless of which color you choose to elevate your home, both reflect a connection to wellness and a soothing sense of order and peace. And in today’s often hectic, “crazy busy” society, who doesn’t need a dose of Zen-like relaxation, right!

For Expert Advice, Why Not Partner with an Expert? 3 Day Blinds!

Whether you’re considering Rose Quartz, Serenity, or any other color for your custom window treatments, tackling the measuring and design process for new window coverings on your own can be daunting, at best. At 3 Day Blinds you not only enjoy an array of design and style options, you also receive expert advice and guidance from a highly trained Design Consultant, which by itself is a significant value. You’ll appreciate their attention to detail and the personalized experience of partnering with a true design specialist. From measuring, to ordering, delivery, and installation, your 3 Day Blinds Design Consultant is committed to your complete satisfaction. Call today for your complimentary in-home design consultation and see why we love to say, “you’ll love the treatment”!

Earlier this year the students and faculty at Mary Buren Elementary School in Guadalupe, California lost their cherished library due to severe flooding and had no way to rebuild it.

In a heart-warming act, Ellen DeGeneres, in conjunction with Anthony Carrino & John Colaneri (The Cousins), 3 Day Blinds and other companies came together to help this school rebuild what was tragically taken from them. The students at Mary Buren Elementary School have a hunger for books and a thirst for knowledge and this act of kindness helps to satiate their appetites for both.

Mary Buren Elementary School is located in a low-income farming community and as such wouldn’t have been able to afford the cost of the renovations. With the library restoration project completed these students are ecstatic at the thought of being able to have a great place to read and learn. Knowing that both the faculty and the student body will enjoy the library really brings us an immense amount of joy.

3 Day Blinds donated Roller Shade window treatments for all of the library’s windows. These treatments are great for controlling the amount of light in any given room and help create ideal study conditions for students and adults alike.

We at 3 Day Blinds feel honored to be a part of helping such a noble cause. We would like to thank The Cousins and their wonderful team and hope that we can work together again in the future to help with other causes.

You can watch the “Ellen DeGeneres Show” on December 7, 2015. Check your local listings for time and channel.

Third, our Customer Care team provides end to end world class service to customers around the nation from our contact center in Irvine CA. Our Customer Care team is made up of caring top notch specialists trained to provide a superior client experience.

Helping those in need, especially this time of year, has always come naturally to 3 Day Blinds. To continue this welcome tradition, this fall the company is partnering with Casa Teresa, a non-profit organization that provides a temporary home and on-going support for women in need of assistance. For their part, 3 Day Blinds is asking every employee at the company to get a gently used purse, either their own or from their wife, mother or friend, and fill it with essentials such as a tooth brush, tooth paste, hair brush, lip balm , wipes, sanitizer, hair ties, and other like items. The purse and items inside will be donated to Casa Teresa and distributed to women in need- those who have perhaps been battered and had to flee their homes, or are homeless due to other unforeseen circumstances.

3 Day Blinds is inviting all of those who wish to participate in this charity can obtain a gently used purse or the personal items listed above for donation. The company has also established an email for those seeking a direct response to questions, at: givingback@3day.com.

In past years, 3 Day Blinds has partnered with other organizations, including Habitat for Humanity, in an ongoing effort to give back to the community and help those in need. To help ensure the success of this charity drive, the company is encouraging those who wish to participate to make their donation of essential items before Thanksgiving.